According to Tomasz Chróstny, head of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), the proposed joint venture will not lead to curtailment of competition and is expected to contribute to Poland’s efforts for energy independence.
In December 2021, PKN Orlen, a state-controlled fuels and energy company, and Synthos Green Energy, part of the largest chemicals industrial group in Poland, signed an agreement to establish an equal-share joint venture to be called Orlen Synthos Green Energy, subject to regulatory approval.
GEH and Synthos announced in October 2019 an agreement to collaborate on potential deployment applications for the BWRX-300 SMR in Poland.
Synthos has said it is interested in nuclear power for obtaining affordable, on-demand, carbon-free electricity.
The agreement covers a number of areas of reactor development and deployment, including financing, site selection and the production of energy and heat for the companies’ own needs and for municipal and commercial customers.
The BWRX-300, a 300-MW water-cooled, natural circulation SMR with passive safety systems, makes use of the design and licensing basis of GEH’s Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor, or ESBWR.
